#Libya Resume World Cup Commitments in #Kinshas #footballa

tripoli post.

Libya national football team. It carries the hope of its fans in Kinshasa When it comes to the international scene, Libya would be hoping that its fairytale run continues on Sunday when the national team takes on Democratic Republic of Congo in Kinshasa in a Group I FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifier while enjoying the top position in its group after two matches. Despite forfeiting home advantage due to security reasons, Libya has been doing much better than one would have expected and with four points from the two matches played, a 2-1 win behind closed doors in neighbouring Tunisia against better fancied Cameroon, and an away draw with Congo, therefore they go into their third round away tie with much hope. They however know that it will not be easy at the Stade des Martyrs. Their inactivity could prove costly against a side that was narrowly eliminated in the first round of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, following what has been described as an honourable performance in South Africa. The DR Congo are currently lying second in their group, a point behind Libya and sharing the position with Cameroon after a defeat in Yaoundé against Cameroon followed by a home win against Togo. Libya have been trying hard to improve their standards and have even tried to attract some well known names in the coaching circles in order to get the necessary push to help them step up from being ordinary to favourites for qualification. The Libyan Football Federation has considered contracting names such as French coach Alain Giresse, Egypt's former coach Hassan Shehata and Morocco's Bado El-Zaki, but their efforts have failed and Libyan coach Adel-Hafiz Arbish will sail on as the squad's mentor to try and get them to another positive result, mainly to protect their unbeaten record in the qualifying stages. In the absence of home games - Libya have not been able to host an international since October 2010 - as part of their preparations for the World Cup qualifiers, Libya have been visiting and playing other countries in Africa in warm-up matches and last weekend in Morocco they met and defeated Senegal, who had a team made up of locally based players, 4-0. Then on Wednesday they travelled to Rwanda and won by 1-0 at Kigali's Amahoro Stadium. These two results help the Libyan team to keep its momentum in view of the upcoming big challenges in World Cup Qualification rounds. Libya have been proving to have a very strong defence, and though it has shown some weaknesses up front, on their day, the midfielders and strikers can rise to the occasion and perform well enough to get the results needed. Libya and DR Congo have only met twice before in official matches. In November 2005 in Tripoli Libya won a friendly by 2-1, while the DR Congo took their revenge in the CHAN 2009 when they won 2-0. This time round, DR Congo will be all out to improve on that result and coach Claude Leroy will have his main attacking assets available, Trésor Mputu and Dieumerci Mbokani. However they will be without midfielder Cédric Makiadi who is suffering a knee injury, and Matumona Zola Roum, who has been dropped. The Mediterranean Knights of Libya were beaten by Algeria in the final round of Afcon 2013 qualifiers, but despite the political instability reigning in the country since 2011 and the suspension of the national championship as a result, have, surprisingly for some, maintained a very good standard. The Libyan team to face DR Congo is quite familiar and coach Arbesh won't do any experimenting but basing on players like Ihaab Boussefi, Ahmed Zuway in attack, Ahmed Saad, Muataz Ben Amer, Hussein Al Idrissy in midfield and defenders Muhammad Al Maghrabi, Ali Salama, and Younes Al Shibani, who have all, already stamped their mark on the national team. Most of the team is expected to come from Ittihad who have tasted international competition by playing in the CAF Champions League. Al Nasser and Al Ahli will also be well represented. Coach Arbesh has the following squad to choose his final team to face DR Congo GOALKEEPERS: Muhammad Nashnoush, Ahmed Al Ammari, Jum'aa Q'tait DEFENDERS: Ossama Chtiba, Ahmed Al Alwany, Ali Salama, Muhammad Al Maghrabi, Mahmood Bher, Hamed Snousi, Younes Al Shibani, Mohammed Mounir, Walid Mhadeb, Abdulaziz Belreesh, Walid Jalal Al Sbaay MIDFIELDERS: Abubaker Suiueinei, Hussein Al Idrissy, Nader Al Targhi, Muataz Ben Amer, Abdallah Al Sharif, Djamal Mahamat, Ahmed Sa'ad, Abubaker Rabea, Marwaan Mabrouk, Mohammad Al Sinaani FORWARDS: Ihaab Boussefi, Ahmed Zuway, Faisal Saleh, Khalifa Abdulla, Mohamed Al Ghanodi Libya are ranked seven places higher than DR Congo on the African continent. They are placed 13th place, while DR Congo are in 20th place. Hectic 2014 World Cup Programme of 60 Qualifiers Libya's match against DR Congo in Kinshasa is only one of 60 World Cup qualifiers due to be played between this weekend and Wednesday, with 20 of them from the African zone and the rest, 42 from the nine groups making up the European zone This weekend alone, 36 teams from the African continent, and 50 from Europe will be in action in 43 matches. Wednesday March 27 is set for 19 other matches (17 in Europe and two in the African zone) mostly involving teams who would be playing their second match in four or five days. The other match that truly concerns Libya will be played today from the same Group I at Yaounde with Cameroon hosting Togo. It is very important for Cameroon after being absent from the last two Africa Cup of Nations and consumed by internal quarrels since the South African World Cup. The Indomitable Lions are set on restoring themselves to their former glory by qualifying for their seventh World Cup finals. Cameroon have been under the technical guidance of Jean-Paul Akono since last September and the dismissal of Denis Lavagne, following the defeat in Praia against Cape Verde in the first leg of the final round of Afcon 2013 qualifiers, but have just suffered another disappointment in their friendly against Tanzania where they were outclassed and lost 1-0 in Dar Es Salam early February. That majority of that team was made up of local players, following a massive defection of their star players, but the latter are expected to be present for the clash against the Sparrowhawks. Cameroon are currently lying third in their Group I following a home win against the DR Congo and a defeat against Libya, so must therefore ensure an imperative win at home at the Stade Amadou Ahidjo to ensure their chances. But it will not be easy against the Togolese national team who were quarter finalists in the last Afcon, although they themselves have also suffered some internal upsets. The full programme of matches from the African zone in the next few weeks is: GROUP A South Africa v Central Africa Ethiopia v Botswana GROUP B Tunisia v Sierra Leone Eq. Guinea v Cape Verde GROUP C Ivory Coast v Gambia Tanzania v Morocco GROUP D Lesotho v Zambia Ghana v Sudan GROUP E Congo v Gabon Burkina Faso v Niger GROUP F Nigeria v Kenya Namibia v Malawi GROUP G Mozambique v Guinea Egypt v Zimbabwe GROUP H Rwanda v Mali Algeria v Benin GROUP I DR Congo v Libya Cameroon v Togo GROUP J Senegal v Angola Liberia v Uganda